Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Global Warming - Essay Example This phenomenon acts to warm the Earth and is called the â€Å"greenhouse effect.† The addition of more carbon dioxide from man-made causes traps excess heat thereby increasing the Earth’s temperature. (Solomon, 2007) The excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is predominantly caused by fossil fuel consumption from coal burning electric power plants, factories and vehicles. The two long-term effects of a warming planet are a temperature increase of five to nine degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100 in addition to an increase of sea levels by dozens of feet. This rise of temperature and sea level has already begun and would continue for decades even if air pollutions were somehow ended today. According to the World Meteorological Organization â€Å"2000-2009 was the hottest decade on record, with eight of the hottest 10 years having occurred since 2000.† (Jenkins, 2012). Simply experiencing hotter temperatures are not the most concerning aspect of climate change. The continued warming of the climate is accelerating the evaporation cycle resulting if more intense flooding and more widespread and longer lasting droughts. The warming of ocean waters causes them to expand and therefore sea levels to rise. Melting ice caps are adding to this dire problem. A rise in sea levels will cause huge numbers of people living in coastal regions to migrate elsewhere, an economic and health catastrophe. Much of the world’s financial centers are located on the coast. In the U.S. alone about 50 percent of the population live within 50 miles of a coastline. Melting land ice and the reduction of glaciers decrease stream and river flows, a concern for human, animal and plant water supplies. Precipitation patterns are changing which increase extreme weather events while tropical storms are intensifying. Changing weather patterns are affecting agriculture yields.